Means for opening grain doors of cars



- Nov. 27, 1923.

MEANS FOR OPENING GRAIN D'OORS OF CARS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 22 1522 I l l l I HHHHHHIH IHIIIHIIHHIIIII I l I l l l l W v Nov. 27, 1923. 1,475,552

J. A. PETERSON MEANS FOR OPENING GRAIN DOORS OF CARS Filed May 22, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 am" not Nov. 27, 1923, 1,475,552

J. A. PETERSON MEANS FOR OPENING GRAIN DOORS OF CARS Filed May 22, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ids tented Nov. 27, 1923.

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A.-PETERSON, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

MEANS FOR OPENING GItAIN 0F CARS.

Application filed May 22,

' of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for opening the grain doors of railway cars. In loading box cars'wit-h grain, the doorways in the cars are boarded up with what are known as grain doors, consisting of boards or planks of substantial thickness, nailed to the inner sides of the door jambs' and adapted to sustain the pressure of the grain. These doors are usually composed of several sections, for convenience in handling, each section consisting of several boards secured together by cross-pieces. Generally, a full car has three sections to a door.

When the loaded grain car arrives at its destination, in order to unload the car, it is customary to cut through the boards in the lowermost sections with axes to allow some of the grain to run out and relieve the pressure on the door, and to pry off the severed boards and those above them with steel bars. This is a laborious and time-consuming job, because the laborer has to cut into the faces of the boards with the axe, and the time consumed in opening the grain door is sometimes much greater than that required to unload the contents of the car after the door has been removed. Also, the work of cutting throughthe doors in one car afterv another is so fatiguing as to exhaust the men, particularly in warm weather. The mutilation of the boards, of course, occasions great waste of otherwise usable lumber.

In order to avoid these losses in time,- energy and materials, I have provided means whereby grain doors may be opened by power in the space of a minute or two, these means comprising a rod or plunger having on one end a shoe adapted to engage the grain door, and means for moving the rod" end'wise in an inclined direction so as to force the grain door sections inwardly and upwardly. The force is applied near one end; of each sect'fn and to the uppermost section first and hen to the intermediate and lower sections, in succession. The inward and upward pressure applied to the top section causes the nails to be withdrawn from the door jamb and lifts ,the top section away 1922. Serial No. 562,717.

from the intermediate section, and the grain which was held back by the top section flows out through theopening formed between the sections. The intermediate section is then pressed inwardly and upwardly and when the grain which has held back by said section has poured out, the bottom section is pressed inwardly and raised from the car floor and the pressure back of said section is relieved. The pressure applied to one end of a section loosens the nails at the other end and the sections may then be readily removed to allow the grain to be shoveled out.

The rod or bar carrying the shoe which engages the grain door is mounted to swing in a vertical plane, so that the shoe may en gage the several door sections in succession.

In the drawing, the'rod isarranged within an air cylinder which is pivoted to a support at one side of the track, and pipe connections are provided for admitting compressed air to and from the cylinder to operate the rod; but the invention 1s not limited to pneumatic means for operating the rod, as various well known mechanical devices may be provided for giving the necessary endwise thrust to the rod to cause the removal of the door sections.

1n the accompanying drawing, 7

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the central portion of a grain door and a rear elevation of the door-removing device, the upper section of the door being shown pressed inwardly and upwardly to permit the grain to flow out beneath it;

Fig. 2 is a central transverse section through the car, the door-removing device being shown in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section through the air cylinder, its support and the shoe;

Fig. 4 is a rear view of the shoe; and

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the valves and adjacent portions of the air pipe.

Referring to the drawing, a represents the rails of a railway track, b represents a box car on the track, and 0 represents a fixed support at one side of the track upon which is mounted the door-removing device of my invention, the latter represented as a' whole by d, in Fig. 2. 'The car is shown with grain doors e, consisting of sections 1, 2, and '3, each section composed of several boards connected by cross-pieces 4. These sections are arrangedpne upon the other A and are nalled at then-ends to the inner grain from scatterin 2o sides of the door jambs or uprights 5. Thea grain doors are placed in the cars at the loading station to retain the grain indicated at g, and must be removed in order to remove the grain at the grain elevator to which the car is destined. When the grain is being unloaded the grain falls down through a grating which extends beneath and at the sides of the track and is received on suitable conveying apparatus which carries it to the elevators. Adjacent the track at the unloading point is a raised grated platform 6, through which the grain may fall and upon which the operator stands to out open the grain doors when these are opened in the usual way by hand. Project:

. end of the cylinder is provided with a cap 3t) 14, and within the cylinder is arranged a rod or plunger 15, which extends through an opening in the head 14 and is provided with a piston 16, at its inner end. The plunger has a long keyway 15 and the head 14 is provided with a key 14, which fits within the keywa and prevents the plu from turning. llpon the end of the pun or is mounted a shoe 17, having parallel ri s 17 on its rear side, these ribs being provided with alined openings to receive a pivot pin .18 which extends through said openings and through an eye 15 on the plunger. The pivot pin extends horizontally through the openings in the shoe and plunger and the shoe may therefore rock vertically. The shoe shown in the drawing is compo of a plate having a plurality of threaded openings 17 extending through it at an angle of about 30 to the face of the plate,

and in these openings are fitted screws 19 .havin pointed ends 19 for indenting the boar s in the grain door when the shoe is forced against the boards. The support for the hinged end of the cylinder is lower than the car floor f and the free end of the cylinder is supported b a hoisting chain 20,

by means of which t e free end may raised or lowered so that the shoe on the plunger may engage anyone oi the grain door sections.

lit will-be seen from the relation of the arts that the pressure of the plungerwill e applied to the several door sections in an inward and upward direction. lln order to force the plunger outwardly, ll provide a masses pim 21 which is connected at one end to a port 12" in the cylinder head 12, and the other end or said pipe is connected to an engineers valve 22, through which compressed air from a supply pipe 23. may be admitted to the cylinder, in one position of the valve, and exhausted from the cylinder in another position of the valve. In order to prevent amageto the parts, should the operator fail to cut ofit the air pressureafter the plunger has released a door section, and also to pen mit the air'in advance of the piston to escape, ll provide a port 13 .in the cylinder, spaced from the head 1d a uflicient distance to allow the piston to pass the port. This port is normally in communication wlth the atmosphere through a pipe 24 and a normally open relief valve 25. Thus, when the plunger is forced outwardly by the admission of air through the valve 22, should the operator fail to close said valve, the air in the cylinder will escape through'the pipe 24 as soon as the piston 16 passes the port 13", and the pressure behind the piston will be so reduced that'no harm can be done to the apparatus. F or the purpose of returning the plunger to its inner position, I provide a port 26, in the outerend of the cylinder,

adjacent the head 14, through which compressed air may be admitted by means of a pipe 27, connected to said port and through a normally closed valve 28 and pipe 29 to the suppl pipe 23. The levers 25 and 28'. of the valves 25 and 28 are connected by a link 30, so as to move. together. Thus, the valve 25 is open and the valve 28 is closed while the plungeris being driven outwardly by pressure admitted to the back'of'the piston through the valve 22, and the air in advance of the piston escapes through the valve 25; or if the piston goes beyond the port 13 before the pressure is cut off at the valve 22, the air at the back of the piston will escape through the port 13 and the valve 25. After the plunger has been too driven outwardly it is necessary to apply air pressure to the forward side of the piston to return the plunger. To accomplish this, the valve 28 is opened and b the same movement the valve 25 is close Air then flows from the supply pi e 23 through valve 28 and pipe 27 to the iorward end of the c linder and forces the piston inward. he valve 25 being closed, no air' can escape through the port 13, but the air at the inner end of the cylinder will escape through the Y be pipe 21 and the engineers va ve 22.

n operation, the car carrying the grain is located so that the shoe on the plunger will engage the grain doorsections near oneside of the door. The operator then, by means of the hoisting chains, arranges the cylinder at such an angle that the shoe on the plunger will engage the uppermost section of the door, and by atting air gradually the sections and relieve the pressure back of the the chain, until the shoe on the plunger is,

uppermost section. The operator then admits air to the free end of the cylinder to return the plunger to its inner position and the cylinder is then lowered; by means of in position to engage the intermediate section of the door and air is then admitted to the valve 22 to force the plunger outwardly and apply pressure to the intermediate section. This pressure 'forces one end of the intermediate section inwardly and upwardly and the grain then flows out in a gap formed between the intermediate and lower sections. In the same way, the lower section is then ressed inwardly and upwardly and a gap is formed between said section and floor through which the grain pours out. The pressure applied to 'theseveral sections forces out the nails at one end of each section and loosens or forces out the nails at the other end so that the sections can be readily removed by hand and the grain can then be shoveled out of the car in the usual n operating the plunger to loosen the door sections, the "alve 22 is used for admitting air to the cylinder to force the plunger outwardl and also to release the air back of the piston when the plunger 1s to be returned. Should the operator fail to cut off the pressure back of the piston after the plunger has moved far enough to release a door section, the piston will pass the port 13 in the cylinder and the compressed air back of the (piston will escape through the said port an the valve 25. To return the iston from its outer position, air is admitted through the valve 28 and as this valve is opened to admit the air to the forward end of the cylinder, the valve 25 is simultaneously closed by reason of the connections between said valves so that the air admitted to drive the piston back will not escape through the port 13, which is controlled by the valve 25.

By means of the invention described, the

grain door of a car can be opened in a minof means for o ening the grain doors of cars on the trac one side of the track and power-operated means on said support adapted to apply an upwardly and inwardly inclined thrust to the upper part of a grain door of a car on the track and means for adjusting ---said power-operated means so'as to apply similar thrusts to intermediate and lower parts of the door in. succession.

comprising a support at 2. The combination with a railway track,"

of means for opening the grain doors of cars on the track comprising a support at one side of the track and power-operated means, pivoted on said support below the level of a grain car floor, adapted to give an upward and inward thrust to the doors of cars on the track.

3. The combination with a railway track, of means for opening the grain doors of cars on the track comprising a support at one side of the track, a bar, pivotally mounted on said sup rt above the track and adapted to extend in an upwardly inclined direction from its pivotal point to different vertical parts of the grain door of a car on the track, means on the upper end of said bar for engaging a grain door, and means for forcing said bar endwise toward the door.

4. The combination with a railway track, of means'for opening the grain doors of cars on thetrack comprising a support at one side of the track, a bar pivotallv mounted on said support above the track and below the level of a grain car floor and adapted to extend in an upwardly inclined direction from its pivotal point to different vertical parts of the grain door of a car on the track, means on the upper end of said bar for engaging a grain door, and means for forcing said bar endwise toward the door. 1/

5. The combination with a railway track, of means for opening the grain doors of cars on the track comprising .a upport at one side of the track, a member pivotally carried on said support and adapted to ex tend in an upwardl inclined direction from the support towar the grain door ofaca'r on the track, said member having means at its upper end for engaginga grain door, means for holding the member in difierent upwardly inclined positions, directed toward different vertical parts of the grain door, and weroperated means for forcing the mem er toward the door.

6. The combination with a railway track, of means for o ening the grain doors of cars on the trac comprising a support at one .side of the track, a member pivotally carried on said sup ort below the level of. a grain car fiooran adapted to extend in an upwardly inclined direction from the support toward the grain door of a car on the track, said member having meansat its upper end for engaging a grain door, means for holding the member in diflerent u'pwardly inclined positions, directed toward different vertical parts of the grain door, and power-operatedmeans for forcing the member toward the door.

7. The combination witha railway track, of means for forcing open grain doors of cars on the track comprising a support at one side of the track, a' cylinder pivoted to said support and adapted to extend in an upwardly inclineddirect-ion from the support toward the grain door of-a car on the track, a plunger rod projecting through the upper end of the cylinder, means on said rod for engaging a grain door, and means for admitting fluid pressure to said cylinderto operate the rod:

8. The combination with a railway track,

of means for forcing open grain doors of cars on the track comprising a support at one side of the track, a cylinder pivoted to said support and adapted to extend in an up wardly inclined direction from the support toward the grain door of a car on the track, a plunger rod projecting throughl the upper end of the cylinder, means on said rod for engaging a grain door, means for directingsaid cylinder and rod, toward differentrod-for engaging a grain door, and means cars on said track comprising a cylinder for admitting fluid pressure to said cylinder to operate the rod.

10. The combination with a railway track of means for forcing open grain doors of pivotally supported at one side of the track and adapted to extend in an upwardly inture.

the grain door of a car on the track, a plunger rod in said cylinder and projecting through the upper end thereof, a shoe pivoted to said rod and adapted to engage the graimdoors, and means for forcing said rod outwardly.

11. The combination with a railway track, of means for forcing open grain doors of cars on said track comprising a cylinder pivotally supported at one side of the track and adapted-to extend in an upwardly inclined direction from the support toward the grain door of a car on the track, a plun-. ger 'rod in said cylinder and projecting through the upper end thereof, a shoe pivoted to said rod and havin a plurality of pointed projections adapte to engage the grain doors, and means for forcing said rod outwardly.

12. The combination with a railway track, of a cylinder pivoted at one side of the track and adapted to swing in a plane transversely of the track, a plunger rod having a piston within the cylinder and having means at its outer end for engaging a grain door, a

valve for admitting fluidunder pressure .to

the cylinder to drive the plunger outwardly,

and a port inthe cylinder for permitting the fluid to escape after the piston has passed said port.

13. lhe combination with a railway track, of a cylinder pivoted at one side of the track and adapted to swing in a plane trans versely of the track-a lunger rod having a piston within the cylin er and having means at itsouter end for engaging a grain door, a valve for admitting fluid under'p-ressu're to the cylinder to drive the lunger outwardly, a ort in the cylinder or permitting the fluid to escape after the piston has passed said port, a valve controllin said port, a

valve for admitting fluid un er pressure to the outer end of the cylinder to drive the plunger inwardly, and connections between the latter valves for causing one toopen when the other closes, and vice versa.

In testimony whereof llaflix my signa- JOHN, A. rnrnason. 

